The National Law Journal reports, according to a forthcoming study conducted by Lawrence D. Finder, Ryan D. McConnell, and Scott L. Mitchell, that the number of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) and non-prosecution agreements (NPAs) between the Department of Justice and corporations has declined by 60% in 2008. This is a sharp drop from a historic high of 40 DPAs and NPAs in 2007 to only 16 DPAs and NPAs in 2008. The study also reports a significant decline in the inclusion of privilege-waiver provisions in DPA/NPAs.

The study sets out some significant findings including, but not limited to, the following:

FCPA violations were the subject 7 of the 16 DPA/NPAs entered into in 2008

Immigration work-site enforcement investigations had their DPA/NPA debut in 2008